NanoPhonica Inc. recently signed the R&D deal with Japan Display Inc., a consortium of Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi. The Tokyo-based industry group becomes NanoPhotonica's latest Asian research partner, CEO Chris Morton said last week.

NanoPhotonica anticipates that the collaborative agreement will pave the way for sales of its lighting technology in Asia once its products complete the R&D phase, he said.

"We have already made inroads in mainland China and Taiwan," said Morton, who heads the company's executive team in Orlando. "This new partnership completes the circle for the major Asian markets."
The company also recently partnered with a Taiwan-based notebook PC maker and its display vendor, Morton said. He would not disclose the names of the companies, citing a confidentiality agreement.

Morton and his University of Florida staff scientists in Gainesville say they have created phone displays that are brighter, more energy-efficient and less expensive than anything on the market. The company expects to go into full-scale production in 2015.

VA training unit gets a builder
The Department of Veterans Affairs last week awarded a Chicago-based construction company a $20 million contract to build a medical simulation training center at Lake Nona.

Archer Western/DeMaria Joint Venture VIII of Chicago was tapped to build the 53,000-square-foot SimLEARN National Simulation Center on the campus of the new Orlando VA Medical Center at Lake Nona's Medical City. The hospital is scheduled to be finished by year's end and to be open to patients by mid-2015.

VA officials say all medical simulation training for the VA's nationwide hospital system will be coordinated by the Lake Nona SimLEARN, which stands for simulation, learning, education and research network.

The SimLEARN staff has been operating temporarily out of offices on Hazeltine National Drive near Orlando International Airport. The new simulation-training center is projected to be completed by late 2015 or early 2016.

Canvs teams up with colleges
The Canvs group took a big step last week in adding value for future tenants of its new co-working space in downtown Orlando's Church Street Exchange building. Organizers brought aboard the University of Central Florida and Rollins College to provide mentoring, internships and other support services for the companies that are becoming Canvs' first tenants. The incubator-like space for startups is expected to open next month.